Wednesday, April 25, 2018

The Hook

"It's not that bad. She said this line was super open and you could see the surface and sunlight the entire time. Totes fine. I just spoke to someone who did this dive and she had just finished her OW training a couple of days. OK, that bit about someone with 5 dives going into a cavern is kinda terrifying in itself but I'm fine. I'm fine. Yeah, I'm fine."

Ponderosa.

This was my first day of diving - we decided not to start with training immediately and, instead, do a fun dive in one of the caverns at Jardin del Eden so I could get used to the new setup. Also, since I'd signed up for a week of cave training without even having done a single cavern dive, Nat and I both wanted to make sure I didn't completely lose my shite in the overhead.

After a site briefing, a bit of a kerfuffle with my drysuit inflator hose and keeping a wary eye on the screaming people jumping off the trees right above the entrance to the Ponderosa line, we dropped down and headed in. She was right, it was very large and open, not to mention insanely beautiful. You'd think that wet rocks wouldn't be particularly attractive but you would be wrong - there's so many different formations, it's mind boggling. As we got closer to cenote Corral, I was treated to an amazing display of the Pillars of Light - a surreal effect of beams of sunlight streaming through submerged tree roots and sparkling in the crystal clear water. We turned the dive at the end of the cavern line after peeking down the gap that leads to the cave line. The swim back was equally nice and the halocline effect was even trippier in this direction.
-> 61min, 38ft, 76F

I knew during the swim back that this was the type of diving I definitely wanted to keep doing; the hook was well and truly in place.